Throat-slashing gestures, taunts become a concern on B.C. Lions' sideline

B.C . Lions Khalif Mitchell gestures to the fans just prior to winning the CFL game in Edmonton against the Eskimos on Saturday.

Photograph by: John Ulan
, The Canadian Press

The Sign of the Cross is a symbolic gesture marking the four points of the cross that Christ carried to Mount Calvary.

There is no disputing that defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell of the B.C. Lions is a believer in this Christian ritual, just the manner in which his act of personal piety is displayed.

Typically, the thumb, index and middle finger are placed on the forehead, moved down the solar plexus, then moved from the left shoulder, and across to the right, or vice-versa, in a show of humility.

But Mitchell’s alleged sign of the cross — repeated in Saturday’s game in Edmonton and directed menacingly at the Eskimos — was not only sloppy and perfunctory in its execution, it was more closely aligned with the New Zealand All Blacks “haka” of rugby infamy. The pre-game Maori dance ritual includes a throat-slashing gesture that some have interpreted as suggesting “the slaughter” of opponents, not the “cutting edge of the sport” claim that is supposed to be its true intent.

Whatever it was, it brought renewed focus on taunting in the CFL, coming a day before Jon Cornish of the Calgary Stampeders mooned fans at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, and then was forced to eat crow and publicly apologize for his lack of professionalism and public disrespect, not the least of which was dishonouring the organization he represents. He is quickly becoming the league’s poster boy for petulant, childish behaviour.

“If that’s not suspension-related, then what it is?” said Lions player rep Korey Banks. “That’s uncalled-for, you can’t do that. There are grandmothers, mothers, fathers, kids who will be offended by that. He actually mooned then, did he? Oh gosh, I would love to see that. That’s the epitome of disrespect.”

Naturally, Banks was less outspoken about Mitchell, who is fast becoming a lightning rod for other excesses of aberrant behaviour. The CFL fined the Lion an undisclosed amount on Tuesday.

In July, the Lions defensive tackle used the arm of Eskimos’ offensive lineman Simeon Rottier as a corkscrew and earned a two-game suspension.

On Saturday, he showed that the team might have to establish tighter controls over him in the area of sportsmanship and over-the-top exuberance.

Mitchell didn’t duck from the media Tuesday in the team’s locker-room when the Lions gave him a stage in which to explain his actions. The defensive tackle wasn’t involved in the Lions’ first practice since their 19-18 win over the Eskimos because of a quad injury, casting some doubt in his participation in Saturday’s game in Regina.

Mitchell portrayed himself as a player whose motivations have been widely misinterpreted by fans, the football media and CFL commissioner Mark Cohon, but he has been consistent in one respect. Mitchell has never apologized for injuring Rottier, insisting it was “a football play.”

He did not apologize on Tuesday either, for a gesture Banks said he has seen players do “a trillion times.”

“I do the cross when I go on the field,” Mitchell explained. “The throat-slashing gesture ... that was a sign I was giving to a teammate. Those were two separate entities. Please don’t let them be construed as the same. I do the cross when I go on the field for every game. And I will do that, because I love Jesus. But the process was done to a teammate, to let him know we were going out to execute a high level of play. Was that proper? No. I don’t think that, when you’re on the battlefield, a lot of things can be construed as proper. This is not McDonald’s. This is not a little kids’ playland. It’s a grown man’s game, and it’s very violent. We should start putting: Viewer Discretion is Advised, before games.”

But Mitchell’s rationale is chock full of holes in the opinion of some, and that includes Banks, who is well aware of the league directives against any gesture or pose that is directed at the opposing team and done in a provocative manner.

“That’s (throat-slashing gesture) a natural reaction we guys from the States did all the time,” he explained. “I did it my whole life. I’ve been fined four times for it. It’s something I stopped doing, just because I didn’t want to pay the league any more money. All Khalif needed to do was say: ‘I made a mistake.’

“When you try and cover it up, it makes it worse. Sometimes you just have to admit, ‘I made a mistake.’ That’s the best way. But his defence mechanism came up right away. Oh well, that comes with maturity. He’s learning something. You’ve got to think before you talk.”

Banks said he let his mouth and emotions boil over when he was a younger player in Ottawa, but veterans such as Dave Donaldson and Gerald Vaughn reeled him in and underlined that his me-centred attitude was holding sway over team goals. He learned that he needed to take better control, just as he has been encouraging Mitchell to do since the start of training camp.

In Kamloops, Banks was seen chiding Mitchell for excessive behaviour on a number of occasions.

“He means nothing by it,” Banks said. “He plays with emotion, and he plays hard. We need him around here, because we like his energy. He’ll be all right, once he learns what’s acceptable and what’s not.”

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